Buy Local and Other Random Musings
Yesterday, my girlfriend took her home business to one of the local Holiday Craft Bazaars held every year in our city. This particular bazaar was really busy and usually is. She made several sales over the course of the day and met several customers who want to order from her in the near future. I walked around the room a couple of times to take in some of the stuff that was being sold. While there were a lot of re-sellers (like Avon, Gold Canyon Candles, etc.) there were also a ton of home crafters. I saw just about everything from holiday decorations to hand thrown pottery and some really great Christmas gift ideas. We’re all dealing with tighter pocketbooks this holiday season and these craft bazaars are a great way to help ease around that strain. You can find some great, hand crafted gifts at local bazaars and probably save some money in the process. Plus, the items you buy are much more unique than what you’d find at a huge retailer like Wal-Mart. And, best of all, your money is staying right in the community that you made the purchase from. Keep an eye out in your local newspaper, church newsletter and PTO memos for craft bazaars in your area. Check it out, make a purchase and support a small, sustainable and locally owned business.
On other random thoughts this morning, I woke up and walked out to the kitchen to get the coffee started when walked by our fish tank and noticed a weird noise. I looked over to see only 1/3 of the water left in our tank! It seems one or our cats had dislodged the tubing to the air stone and it steadily self-siphoned itself all night. The leak is stopped now and the floor is drying. Now we’ll have to slowly fill the tank back up with water. Our poor fish are looking at us through the glass with very concerned looks on their little faces.
I racked over my Honey Brown homebrewed beer on Friday. It smells great and has an awesome brown/amber color quality to it. It’s also rather clear which is another huge plus in the world of homebrewing. It will sit in secondary fermentation for another three days or so before I finally get it into some bottles, just in time to enjoy at Christmas!
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